So What If He's Acquitted?

And then there's the Hamdan case. Brayton has another report that's not so cheerful. Quoting WaPo:

Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said it has always been the Defense Department's position that detainees could be held as enemy combatants even after acquittal at military commissions or after serving a prison sentence. "That's always been on our minds in terms of a scenario we could face," he said. "He will serve his time for the conviction and then he will still be an enemy combatant, and as an enemy combatant the process for potential transfer or release will apply."

In other words, it doesn't matter whether he's acquitted or not, he's still an "enemy combatant" and so they don't need to release him.

This may be the quote of the month:

Defense Department officials said there are concerns about the public perception of holding Hamdan after his prison term runs out, because it could label the military commissions a "show process" with no meaning to its sentences.

Um, well, yes.